ZCZC
BCN-26
S.KOREA-BANK-GROWTH-FORECAST
S.Korea’s central bank lowers 2018 growth forecast to 2.9 pct
SEOUL, July 12, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – South Korea’s central bank on Thursday
lowered its 2018 growth forecast for the economy by 0.1 percentage point to
2.9 percent.
The downward revision came after the Bank of Korea (BOK) kept its
benchmark interest rate at 1.5 percent for eight straight months.
Despite the rate freeze, one of eight monetary policy board members
claimed a 25-basis-point rate hike, heralding a rate increase later this
year.
The BOK set its outlook for 2018 real gross domestic product (GDP) at 2.9
percent, down 0.1 percentage point from the figure forecast three months
earlier.
The central bank expected the South Korean economy to grow 2.8 percent in
2019.
BSS/AFP/HR/1400